FCIArb(UK); DipICArb (Oxford, UK); LLM (BU, Boston, USA); CEDR Accr. Med. (CEDR UK); FICMC; FBR; M.CIoD
YUSUF ASAMAH KADIRI, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is the Founder and Principal Partner of ASAMAH KADIRI LEGAL, a full-service commercial Law Firm. He is a consummate commercial lawyer, with vast experience spanning over three decades in diverse areas of domestic and transborder commercial law practice, including commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, commercial mediation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), cross-border insolvency, as well as corporate commercial transactions, amongst others. He was conferred with the prestigious rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (the Nigerian equivalent of the British King’s Counsel) in 2020 by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, being the highest rank of distinction in the legal profession in Nigeria. He had worked in the Legal Department of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) under the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC); and then commenced his law practice career in 1995 at the FEMI OKUNNU & CO. law firm, under the tutelage and mentorship of Alhaji Lateef ‘Femi Okunnu SAN, CON (a foremost early generation Nigerian Lawyer and former Federal Commissioner/Minister for Works and Housing of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1966 to 1974), where he built a solid foundation in legal practice of law for over 4 (Four) years. He later joined the law firm of JACKSON, ETTI & EDU in September 1999 where he was a Partner and Head of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group of the Firm, as well as a senior member of the law firm’s executive leadership. At JACKSON, ETTI & EDU, he nurtured and built the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group of the Firm and took it to the level of being recognized amongst the leading litigation and dispute resolution practices in Nigeria. He also actively participated in the development and establishment of numerous other practice areas and sectors, as well as providing hands-on on-the-job professional training and tutelage for over two decades to numerous young lawyers and other staffers who worked with him or under his supervision. He left JACKSON, ETTI & EDU in September 2026 after about 26 (Twenty-Six) years, and proceeded to establish the law firm of ASAMAH KADIRI LEGAL in October 2025.
Mr. Kadiri is an astute Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Lawyer, a Cross-Border Insolvency and Business Rescue practitioner, and a Business Ethics and Regulatory Compliance Advisor. His extensive expertise and experience cut across diverse aspects of domestic and cross-border Commercial Disputes and Commercial transactions spanning through multiple sectors and areas of law, including, Financial Services Sector, Energy, Oil & Gas and Power Sectors, Mining and Solid Minerals Sector, Health and Pharmaceuticals Sector, Building and Engineering Construction, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Sector, Real Estate and Infrastructure; Shipping and Maritime Sector; Aviation and Aerospace Sector, Road and Rail Transport Sector; Telecommunications and Information Technology Sector, as well as, Employment and Labour Relations, Company Law & Shareholders cum Board Room Disputes, Capital Market and Securities, Schemes of Arrangement, Mergers, Acquisitions, Amalgamations & Corporate Restructuring; Insolvency & Business Rescue, Debt Recovery, Environmental Law; International/Cross-Border Trade, Regional Economic Integration, practice areas, amongst numerous others.
His skills and expertise include handling and managing and dealing with high level complex and multifaceted commercial disputes cutting across State and Federal Courts, Appellate Courts, Commissions of Inquiry, Executive or Legislative or Administrative Investigative Panels, Transnational and Cross Border Disputes, International and Domestic Institutional and Ad-hoc Arbitral Tribunals, Investor Treaty Arbitration Tribunals, Mediation Panels, amongst others. His practice in the field of Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) includes providing legal representation as Counsel to disputing parties in Arbitration proceedings and Mediation sessions, as well as sitting as an Arbitrator or Co-Arbitrator over arbitral proceedings, and as a Mediator or Co-Mediator in mediation sessions. He also has extensive experience and skills in utilizing the ADR techniques of Negotiation and Mediation in resolving multifaceted commercial disputes, to minimize the risk of litigation and breakdown of business relationships amongst commercial parties. He is a member of the Panel of Neutrals (as an Arbitrator and Mediator) of several leading ADR institutions in Nigeria and internationally. He is also a Capital Market Consultant accredited by the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), coupled with being an Insolvency Practitioner licensed by the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC).
Educational and Professional Certifications
Master of Laws (LL.M) in International Business Law from Boston University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Bachelor of Laws (LL. B) Degree from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Barrister-at-Law (B.L) Call-To-Bar Certificate as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Advanced Practice Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration (DipICArb) from Kebble College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom (in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom).
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom (FCIArb).
Accredited Commercial Mediator of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), United Kingdom.
Fellow of the Business Rescue and Insolvency Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (FBR – BRIPAN), an affiliate of INSOL International.
Capital Market Consultant accredited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Insolvency Practitioner licensed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Life Member of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD).
CIoD Independent Director Training Course
Professional Awards and Recognitions
Mr. Kadiri has earned several national and international recognitions and awards from several leading international legal ranking institutions, including the following, amongst numerous others:
Conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in year 2020, being the highest rank of distinction in the legal profession in Nigeria.
Ranked by Chambers Global Legal Review as a “Leading Lawyer in Corporate/Commercial Dispute Resolution”, consecutively every year since 2011, up to the current year 2025.
Ranked by Legal500 as a “leading Commercial Litigation Lawyer” in Nigeria.
Ranked in the “Arbitration Powerlist for Africa” by the Legal500 in year 2024.
Ranked by Who’s Who Legal as a National Leader in the fields of Arbitration.
Recognized by Corporate INTL as a “leading Insolvency Lawyer” in Nigeria.
Membership of Professional, Business and Social Networking Organizations
Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN)
International Bar Association (IBA)
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN)
INSOL International
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, United Kingdom (and Nigerian Branch).
CEDR Exchange, United Kingdom (International Mediation Network Group).
International Council for Commercial Arbitration
African Arbitration Association (AfAA)
Nigerian Maritime Law Association
Comite Maritime Internationale
Association of International Arbitration (AIA)
Association of International Energy Negotiators (formerly the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators)
Life member of the Chartered Institute of Directors, Nigeria (C.IoD)
Nigeria-Britain Association (Life Member)
University of Benin Alumni Association
Boston University School of Law Alumni
Ikoyi Club 1938
Positions of Professional and Societal Leadership Responsibilities Held
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): Consecutively served as a Co-opted Member of the National Executive Council (NEC) from 2014 to 2016, 2016 to 2018, 2018 to 2020, 2020 to 2022, 2022 to 2024, 2024 to date.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): served as Chairman of the NBA Constitution Review Committee from 2021 to 2022, and 2023 to 2024 {produced the 2021 amended Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association}.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): served as a Member of the NBA Constitution Review Committee from 2018 to 2020.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): served as Chairman of the 2022 NBA Elections Appeals Committee (Western Zone) – presided over and heard and determined electoral disputes arising from all the NBA Branches in eight States, including, Delta State, Edo State, Ekiti State, Lagos State, Ogun State, Ondo State, Osun State, Oyo State.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): served as a National Prosecutor for the NBA at the Legal Practitioner’s Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) from 2014 to 2017 (pro bono).
Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL): served Chairman of the Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Committee of the NBA-SBL from 2021 to 2023.
Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL): served as Chairman of the Nominations & Electoral Committee of the NBA-SBL in 2018.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): served as a Member of the Technical Committee on Conference Planning of the NBA Annual General Conference (NBA-TCPC) in 2016.
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch: Member of the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) from 2017 to 2019, and 2021 to 2023.
Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners’ Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN): Member of the National Governing Council of BRIPAN since 2017 to date. He also chairs the Legislative Engagement and Law Reforms Committee of BRIPAN.
Ikoyi Club 1938: Chairman of the Disciplinary Sub-Committee from 2nd May 2023 to April 2025.
Thought Leadership Research Works and Public Speaking
“Alternative Dispute Resolution, Housing Finance & Foreclosure” – being a paper presentation as a Guest Speaker at the International Housing Finance Workshop organized by Pison Housing Limited in August 2007.
“Effective Legal Remedies for Combating Counterfeiting & Intellectual Property Rights Violations” – being a presentation at a Workshop organized for Nigerian Judges by the National Judicial Institute of Nigeria, in December 2011.
“Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and Arbitration Awards in African Jurisdiction – using Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana as case studies” – being a presentation at the International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Litigation Conference held in May 2012, in New York, USA.
“Managing Complex Commercial Litigation of a Corporate Entity” – being a presentation to a meeting of a select group of In-House Corporate Counsel and Top Executives of over 75 leading Companies/Corporations in March 2015, in Lagos, Nigeria.
“Arbitration as an Effective Tool in Resolving Intellectual Property Disputes” – presented as a Guest Speaker at the 2nd International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Africa Regional Arbitration Conference held on 16th May 2016 in Lagos, Nigeria.